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Crochet Club: Cropped Bolero Cardigan by Kate Eastwood

Kate’s gorgeous spring cardi is the perfect make for spring, in MillaMia Naturally Soft Aran or Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran!

With spring not too far away I’m looking forward to just being able to wear a cardigan when heading out of the door, rather than all the layers of winter warmers. With that in mind I have designed a boxy Cropped Bolero Cardigan for this week’s Crochet Club make.

Made in an aran weight yarn it works up to give a lovely heavy weight fabric, which has quite a textural feel to it. The cardigan is very simple in its design and I have included two different ways that you can edge your cardigan to finish it, one is a delicate ruffle:

and the other is an edging of dainty bobbles:

The cardigan is roughly waist length and in keeping with the bolero feel does not include buttons as it can be simply held together at the top by a brooch or pin.

I have made my design in two different yarns:

The blue cardigan is made in Millamia Naturally Soft Aran in Denim and used a total of 15 balls. I also used 1 x ball of Millamia Naturally Soft Merino in Denim for the border. The main cardigan is worked with a size 6.5mm hook and the edging is worked with a size 3mm hook. This cardigan works up to a Medium size.

The pale green cardigan is made in Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran, Pistachio 224 and used a total of 6 balls. I also used 1 x ball of Paintbox Yarns Simply DK in Pistachio 124 for the border. The main cardigan is worked with a size 6 mm hook and the edging is worked with a size 3mm hook. This cardigan works up to a large size.

You may find it helpful to work a tension square, as detailed in the photograph below:

Measurements for the Millamia Naturally Soft Aran Cardigan:

Measurements for the Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran Cardigan:

The main body of the cardigan is made up of three different parts, a rectangle for the back, 2 x front pieces and 2 x sleeves.

To make the back:

Chain 74.

Row 1: Starting in the second chain from the hook work a row of DC, 73sts. Chain 1 and turn.

Rows 2 to 79: Continue working rows of 73 DC, remembering to chain 1 and turn at the end of each row. Finish off and sew in the ends.

To make the sleeves:

Make 2.

Chain 33.

Row 1: Starting in the second chain from the hook work a row of DC, 32sts. Chain 1 and turn.

Rows 2 and 3: Work a row of 32 DC, chain 1 and turn at the end of the row.

Row 4: Increase in the first and last stitch of this row by working 2 DC into the same stitch, 34 sts.

Continue working rows of DC, increasing 1 stitch in the first and last stitches of every following 6th row until you have 56 sts.

Now continue working rows of DC, increasing 1 stitch in the first and last stitches of every following 8th row until you have 60 sts.

Work a further 8 rows of DC, without any increases, 60 sts. Finish off and sew in the ends.

To make the left front:

Chain 38.

Row 1: Starting in the second chain from the hook work a row of DC, 37sts. Chain 1 and turn.

Rows 2 to 62: Continue working rows of 37 DC, chain 1 and turn at the end of the row.

Row 63: (this should be a right side row) Work a row of DC, leaving the last 8 stitches unworked. 29 sts. DO NOT chain, turn.

Row 64: Decrease 1 stitch by working the first two stitches of the row together, DC to the end, 28 sts, chain 1 and turn.

Row 65: Work a row of DC, decreasing 1 by working the last two stitches of the row together, 27sts. DO NOT chain, turn.

Rows 66 to 71: Repeat rows 64 and 65 three more times, until you have 21 stitches remaining (bottom right picture, below).

Rows 72 to 79: Continue working rows of 21 DC, chain 1 and turn at the end of each row. Finish off and sew in the ends.

To make the right front:

Work as for the left front up to the end of row 61.

Row 62: (This should be a Wrong Side row ) Work a row of DC, leaving the last 8 stitches unworked. 29 sts. DO NOT chain, turn.

Row 63: Decrease 1 stitch by working the first two stitches of the row together, DC to the end, 28 sts, chain 1 and turn.

Row 64: Work a row of DC, decreasing 1 by working the last two stitches of the row together, 27sts. DO Not chain, turn.

Rows 65 to 70: Repeat rows 63 and 64 three more times, until you have 21 stitches remaining.

Rows 71 to 79: Continue working rows of 21 DC, chain 1 and turn at the end of each row. Finish off and sew in the ends.

Joining the cardigan together:

With right sides together, pin the two front pieces to the back along the shoulders. Sew the shoulder seams. Finish off and sew in the ends.

Next, take each sleeve and fold them in half lengthways so that you can find the centre point of the top edge. Take your joined back and front pieces, and with right sides together place your marker pin in line with the shoulder seam. Pin the sleeve in place and sew. Finish off and sew in the ends.

Once all your 5 pieces are joined, with right sides together, pin the underarm and side seams and sew in place. Finish off and sew in the ends.

Before moving on to the final stage of adding the border you are now going to work a round of DC around the edges of the cardigan.

With the right side facing you, and using the Aran yarn and the 6mm hook, rejoining your yarn at the centre back of the neck and work DC all the way around the edge.Work 2 or 3 stitches into each corner stitch.

Do the same around the bottom of each sleeve.

To make the Ruffle border:

With the right side facing you and using the Paintbox Simply DK and a 3 mm hook, rejoin your yarn at the centre back of the neck.

Chain 2 and working into the back loop only ( of your DC edging round ) work 4 TR into the next stitch.

Continue working 4 TR into EACH stitch, and the back loop only, all the way around the edge of the cardigan. Sl St to join when the beginning and end of the ruffle join, finish off and sew in the ends.

To make the bobbly border:

With the wrong side facing you and using the Millamia Naturally Soft Merino and a 3mm hook, rejoin your yarn at the centre back of the neck with a SL ST.

* Yarn over and working into the front loop only ( of your DC edging round ) pull through, yarn over and pull through a further 5 times until you have a total of 13 loops on your hook, yarn over and pull through all the loops*.

SL ST into both loops of the next stitch.

Now repeat from * to * again, remembering that when you are making the bobble you work into the front loop only. SL ST into the next stitch ( through both loops ). Continue this pattern all the way around the edge of the cardigan.

When you turn your work to the front side you will see all the bobbles.

Sl St to join when the beginning and end of the bobble edging join, finish off and sew in the ends.

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About the Author

Kate Eastwood Living just outside Bath, Kate is fortunate enough to be able to indulge two of her biggest loves -- living right in the middle of the countryside but within easy distance of retail therapy. When not working at her nursery school she loves nothing more than a day of pootling around, with crochet, sofa and tea being right at the top of the list.